Frostbite
by Wario-Girl
Summary: With her darkened childhood behind her, Bitter prepares herself as she serves her childhood friend Prince Cooler Cold during the Planet Trade Organization. During this, Bitter meets a dashing stranger called Frostbite, an Icejin warrior who protects her in the shadows and has remarkable similar features to Lord Cooler…
1. Prelude

**Frostbite**

**-**The Dragonball Z Novel

**Prelude**

In the realms of Space, there are many creatures and aliens that appear to be odd, disturbing and mysterious.

The Icejin race is one most feared race in the Universe, with unlimited powers and they are cruelty incarnate. The great ruler of the Icejin race is known as King Cold.  
>King Cold, the King of the Universe (or so he says) has a loving wife called Queen Winter and their son, Cooler. For the Icejin race, they were a loving, caring Royal family, but many feared them and they worked closely together in the Planet Trade Organisation. For several victorious years, King Cold and Cooler successfully worked across the vast space of the Universe, father and son, while Queen Winter would stay home, and a few years gave birth to the child of King Cold. The youngest son was called Frieza.<p>

But once Frieza was born, the family began to crumble down. One-by-One, things became wrong, so many incidents spewed between the family members. King Cold became obsessed with his youngest son, forgetting about Cooler, pushing him aside from his attention. Queen Winter could see the pain that Cooler hid in his eyes. For some time, they have fought against each other. Cooler and King Cold often fight with each other as Queen Winter would separate them and Frieza would stir the hatred around to his older brother. Queen Winter expected this, but once she realised that the flames of hatred and spite were not going to fade away, she spoke to Cooler in private, telling him that it was okay if he wished to work away from the family. But Cooler protested that he was planning to leave unexpectedly anyway. This hurt Queen Winter unpleasantly, and when Cooler left the family, she was enraged. She spoke to King Cold, disgusted with him paying attention to Frieza and rejecting Cooler as his son. King Cold was unmoved and feeling that she had had enough, she decided to take a break from King Cold, hoping that it would knock some sense into him. King Cold pretended not to care, but when he was living alone with Frieza for two years, the heartache began to hit him.

With the Royal Family splitting, the Icejin race panicked for their future, and after Frieza's attack on Planet Vegeta, the multiple races that worked for the Royal family heard word that Frieza was planning to betray them. This gave the Icejin race a bad name, and because of Frieza's foolishness, his home planet was unexpectedly attack by surviving men, from Saiyans to Mutants, and everything was destroyed. It was a frantic battle, but even the village Icejins could do nothing from the growing army of enraged races.  
>Everyone died except for one unpredicted Icejin child.<p>

Our story takes place on an unexpected soul, an unforeseen creature that is stereotypically feared and hated. This is about the Icejin Royal family and the Icejin child called Bitter. From her young age of 12 in human years, Bitter hid from the rampage of the fighters and spent the remains of her childhood living in the wilds, self-teaching herself to fight and tried hard to survive alone with no family and friends.

After seven years, Bitter started from being a homeless wild-child to be a warrior under the name of Prince Cooler.

Bitter's family were Royalist, just like many other Icejin families, and she knew very well who Cooler was. She was pleased to be accepted under his commandment.  
>But from the young age she first encountered death, she grew to realise that people were afraid of the Icejin race and they were eager to kill them all to extinction. Bitter was a brave and strong fighter, but deep within, under her flesh and bones she was still a terrified child, her nightmares constantly reminded her of why her race was killed, and she was frightened of eyes turning to her. Even with an Icejin Boss, she was far too afraid to speak to anyone or anything. She was much too shy to talk to Cooler personally and she often worked in the shadows for him. She hid her features, concealing herself with a full suit and armour from Cooler's Squad, and always wore a black cloak with a hood to hide her Icejin features and appearance. No one knew what species she was and she often referred herself as part of the Race of Hera because of her icy-blue skin.<p>

She worked under Cooler's commandments for the rest of her life, making friends with almost everyone on the ship, and they were all men. Most of them saw Bitter as a male, but her closest friends Salza, Neiz and Doore knew she was female, but told no one about her.

But one day, she knew that someone was going to look through her blood-red eyes and that is the very day she dreads every day.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>_

_Hello, it's Salverto/Wario-Girl. This is my first Icejin/Frieza's Race fanfiction for Dragonball Z. I do hope you all like it. I've worked reall hard on it. ^^ I won't be writing the Disclaimer's part on every document, so I'll write it here and at the end: Thank you all ;)_

_**Disclaimers:**_

_Frostbite-The Fanfiction (C) Wario-Girl/Salverto_

_**-Cast-**_

_Bitter, Mina-Sue, Chill, Glacia (C) Wario-Girl _

_Mizuki (C) The-Dark-Fallen_

_Zakia (C) CuppyCakeKonan _

_Blackice (C) Icetigerkitten _

_Queen Winter (C) Queen-Koopa _

_I only owe my OCs and this fanfiction. Akira Toriyama is GOD!_


	2. The Beginning of a Normal Day

**Dragonball Z: FrostBite  
>Chapter 1: The beginning of a normal day<strong>

**Destination: Underwater Docks and Tunnels**

It was late and the water was ice-cold, but it did nothing to distract the figure that swam through it. Gracefully, the figure hurried stealthily through the round metallic tubes through the cold liquid. It was in some sort of underwater labyrinth, with multiple turns and twisting paths, giving no signs where to go to escape. But they were here to achieve something, not to escape. They were searching. White and blue light from some of the tubes shifted around the metal walls, the ripples dancing and bouncing off the figure.  
>The figure seemed to be a man, slender and willowy, but wrapped head to toe in a tight, black latex-suit, like a swimming-suit, revealing no sign of flesh. Over the figure's swimsuit, it wore a heavy dark-blue Saiyan-Armour with a single curved shoulder-pad that hung over left shoulder like a cypress tree over a small lake. They wore armoured gloves in the same dark shade as the Saiyan Armour, and the long tail behind it was also concealed in a hard tail-armour made of dull metal. It was heavy, but luckily the figure had trained their tail and now it was strong enough to withstand the weight. Even the face was mummified with a strange, fish-looking helmet, having three green lights that substituted its eyes.<p>

A strange mechanical whine of feedback escaped somewhere behind the figure, and spinning around in the water, they saw some sort of fish-like creature, covered in rages, metal bands and belts, aiming a gun at the figure. Fluidly, the figure tilted its body to avoid the attack. It missed it, and pointing a lean finger at the fish-alien, a white spark shot through and made contact with the clumsy alien. Once it did, the figure saw the alien shudder in the shocking attacking, paralysing it. Not giving it any more attention, the figure swam further, faster. Time was running out, that they knew.

At the bottom of the underwater tunnel, the figure looked up, one of the eyes was a telescope, and it zoomed in about an inch as it saw a door. The door had a massive ring in front of it, like those from a sea-ship, and diving towards it, it gripped onto the ring and tried to twist it. No use. The heavy armoured gloves didn't help. So they pulled them off, the gloves attached to the armour itself and grabbed the ring with their icy-blue hands, twisting it with a loud groan of anger. It creaked through the water like a banshee, but still the figure twisted, and twisted, and once the door burst open, they yanked onto the weighty, metal door. When there was enough room, the figure pushed their back against the doorjambs and used its feet to heave the door wide open.

They dived into the new room, realising that the natural water-blue colour was gone and now the tunnel was high-lighted bright-red. Ah, they must be close.

The figure jolted in alarm when they felt a hard nudge on their tail and spun around, seeing an army of mutant-swimmers charging towards her. Groaning in annoyance, the figure held one hand behind its back, their fingers spread open like a star-fish, and a blue aura glowed. It glowed even brighter, but the figure's eyes never left their enemies. Counting silently to itself, the figure waited for them to come closer, and once they were perfect, the figure swiped their hand at them. Then, it felt a burning, white beam burst out from the palm of their hand, striking quickly at the army and making them tumble away from it like a bowling ball hitting a full strike of pins.

It heaved tiredly, shaking its hand as it felt the heated pain ease and struggled to swim with one hand, so they dropped their hands by their sides and used their feet and legs to swim at the same time, like a fish or mermaid, the tail wiggled freely behind it.  
>Not so long later, the figure encountered some sort of big sewer-like tube leading upwards, with the same ring as from the door not so long ago. Again, they twisted the ring and once they opened the hatch, it stopped. The entrance was much too small for the figure. The Saiyan-Armour's shoulder-pad would never be able to fit, and the armour itself was just about right. It began to look around frantically, as if confused, and then it thought of something. It spun around, swimming further away from the hatch. Several feet away and the figure cracked their knuckles, aiming, getting ready.<p>

Then with a burst of energy, the figure shot through the water, both arms aiming up as if flying and it closed it eyes tightly. It managed to shoot through the tube, but with the deafening impact of the speed the shoulder-pad snapped off. It didn't really matter. The figure desperately crawled through the tight tunnel, weaving, wiggling its hips hard, the tail pushed from behind. It saw a short end of the tunnel, and desperately, it gripped onto the rim of the tunnel, and burst out with a groan. The room was a light shade of crimson, and the figure thought that they have won.

They were wrong.

It looked up to see that they were circled by some sort of squad in the same armour. It glanced around, panicking to see that there were more figure, from mutants to fish-alien creatures, and they were all aiming guns that sparked crispy-white lightening from the tip. The figure instantly knew it was a trap, and that they were fooled.

"Crap!" A woman's voice cried out in horror and before they knew it, all of the surrounding men shot at the figure.

Then, everything went black…


	3. BitterCold

**Dragonball Z: FrostBite  
>Chapter 2: Bitter-Cold<strong>

**Destination: Planet Coola No. 256**

"How is she, Salza?" A deep-bass voice boomed.

Two men stood on a white-metal platform that hung above the calm, rippling pool of water. Brown and grey pipes shot from the roof to the floor underwater, and some twirled into the corner. The two men leaned over to the unconscious figure that lay peacefully on a white bed. The figure was surprisingly a young female wearing her broken Saiyan-Armour and black suit. Her hair was the darkest cerulean; two strands of hair fell from the sides of her face while a large ponytail hung from behind her head in the same colour. It was natural for female aliens to have hair. Surrounding her face was the black latex-suit, and it concealed around her head. Respecting her wishes for not exposing her true race, they only removed her helmet. Her dark-blue lips were plump and contrasted against her shockingly pale-blue skin. Her thick, black eyelashes sat on her cheeks delicately, and a single black line was drawn from the middle of each eyelid down to her lower cheeks, a small black dot ended both of them. It looked like a single black tear. She was startlingly beautiful. Draped at the side of the bed was her long tail with its amour on.  
>Salza was a small man, the same height as the woman, with glorious blond hair and azure-blue skin. His gloved hand gently gripped onto the female's hand, examining her. He was incredibly handsome for a mutant from a different solar-system, and wore the famous limey-yellow suit of Cooler's Armoured-Squad. Beside him was a bear of a man, tall and broad-shouldered with arms like tree-trunks and a great wide chest, like some sort of hulking wrestler. Like all Beppas, his complexion was the darkest shade of green ever seen, and he had long locks of black wild hair. He was always seen with his trademark helmet along with his Armoured-Squad suit and his narrow eyes gazed down softly at his sister-like friend, and saw her tail twitch.<p>

"Good, she is okay, Doore. I feared that those paralysing guns were set incorrectly." Salza answered in his heavy French accent and gave out a breath of relief. He let go of the female's hand and turned to his Comrade Doore. "At least we know that she can survive those things anyway." Salza's golden eyes turned to see a tall, skinny creature walking towards them with a clipboard. The creature was Zalt-Jin, a brown humanoid amphibian-like alien and it wore the same suit as Doore and Salza. "Ah Neiz, it's good to see you. I see that you have the results."

Neiz nodded, waving the clipboard to him.

"Yes, Salza, and I can tell you that they are rather impressive results." He glanced at it again. "Though I hate to admit that she lose points due to destroying the armour."

"Hey, those things cost a fortune to replace," Doore reminded him. "It doesn't matter about the training armour anyway. What are the results?"

"Well, her speed is much more advance than of everyone else's, close by with my agility. She's quiet strong for being able to keep her tail under all of that weight, and has gotten nearly as close as Doore in his test."

"How fascinating," Salza commented, tapping his chin. "So, she managed to surpass the skills of those minions much more than we expected?"

"Yes, Salza,"

"That was only because none of you idiots has spent your childhood in the wilds!" A voice piped up. All eyes turned to see that the woman has woken up, and her wide, crimson eyes stared back at them. At first, she gave them her devil-may-care smirk at them, but then she sat up and shook her fist at them. "Do you realise how hard it was to get through those tunnels? I could barely fit in them and with that Saiyan-Armour on me, it never helped either!"

"Very true, they were unfair, Bitter, but they were all the same for us when we decided to take the extreme test." Doore ruffled her blue ponytail and gave her a wink. Bitter stuck her bottom lip playfully and giggled, gripping onto Doore's massive paw.

"So, how well did I do?" Bitter asked, looking up to Neiz. Neiz smiled at her.

"Well, we are very impressed. No one has ever managed to reach to Doore's point before, and you were fast in reacting to those surprise attacks."

"The final attack was horrible." Bitter murmured. "When I saw Doore and Salza after crawling through that tunnel, the first things I thought was 'Oh, my friends are here to help'…" She frowned. "And then I forgot…"

Doore laughed, deep and booming.

"Well, that narrow tunnel was one of the main tests." Salza mentioned. Bitter tilted her head.

"How so?"

"You see, Bitter, there is a reason why you were forced to wear that armour. Mainly because you'll be fighting in them, but also because we were observing how you would go through that tunnel. Different planets will never have what we want, and so we must adapt to it."

Bitter's eyes widened and pointed at Doore.

"Wait. Then how did Doore get past? He's more than double the size of me."

"We all have our own way. That was the test." Doore answered. "We all had the same problem when we got to that tunnel."

"Did you?"

"Sure we did. The test was how you were able to get past it. Like a puzzle. I simply blew the tunnel up because I knew, even without my armour, that I was much too big for it."

"The tunnel was simple for me to slide through," Neiz pointed out. "My planet was nothing but water, so narrow tunnels were natural to me."

"And I was simply slim enough to get through when I took my armour off," Salza added. "But even I lost points for that, because our armour is very vital." Bitter nodded.

"No one has ever been past that tunnel before. They all gave up and assumed there was another way. But the deal is that that was the only way. EVERYONE knew that!" Neiz explained. Bitter didn't reply for a moment, unconvinced. Salza chuckled to see her reaction.

"Not to worry, mon petit fleur," Salza patted her back. "We'll give the results to Lord Cooler to see if he'll accept you in our Squadron team," Salza often called Bitter 'mon petit fleur', also known as 'my little flower', but he never calls her that in public. Bitter didn't mind it at all. It was quite sweet.

"I sure hope he does," Bitter replied gently, folding her arms over her armoured chest. "I do really want to work with you guys. I'm bored with all of those idiots down here. I do nothing but scrub all the floors in Hyrule and shit. It would be nice to see Lord Cooler more often." Bitter jumped off the bed and reached down for her gloves from the side table. "I've only seen him once in the distance and pictures on the same walls," She groaned, pulling the gloves down her hands. Salza knew that she was referring to all of the Appules and Cui-creatures. They were all idiots. He knew that.

"Don't tell me you have a crush on Prince Cooler," Doore chuckled, seeing Bitter's head snap back at him, blushing.

"No!" She denied loudly, reaching up to his scouter and snatching it off him. He roared in alarm and tried to grab the girl, but she ducked and shot through the air, hiding behind some large pipes. Doore smirked and rushed towards her, and Neiz and Salza watched to two play with each other like 2-year old children.

"You so do! You're blushing!" Doore taunted, his hand bursting through a narrow gaps of the pipes. Bitter jumped away from the bear-paws.

"No! You're making me blush in embarrassment!" Bitter exclaimed.

"Be careful of the pipes!" Neiz warned from below, but of course, none of them listened.

"That's just proof that you're shy and that I'm right!" Doore boomed. Bitter frowned, her blushes deepened.

"Is not!"

"Is to!"

"Is not!"

"Is to!" And with that, Doore managed to reach over and gripped onto the scampering girl's hip, lifting her above his head. "Ah-Ha! I got you!"

"Fail!" Bitter laughed and dropped the scouter.

"No!" Doore cried out melodramatically as he watched the Scouter plummet into the waiting water below them. Then he shot a hot glare at Bitter. "I'll kill you for that!"

"You can't!" Bitter folded her arms. "You love me too much," She fluttered her eyelashes and Doore's glare softened, and then together, they shared a warm-hearted laugh. Neiz and Salza laughed too.

"Come on then, you two big kids, it's time to get ready for Lord Cooler. We need to give him the results if you want to join our crew, Bitter."

"Coming!" And with that, Bitter levitated towards her two brotherly friends as Doore dived into the water, finding his scouter and burst from the surface of the water. Luckily, the Scouters were water-proof.

"Okay, we'll find Lord Cooler in his office and try to convince him. Meanwhile, you're going to have to distract yourself somewhere." Neiz said to Bitter, and she nodded. "Here." He pulled his scouter and gave it to Bitter. "Hide it so no one will see, but it'll bleep when we contact you. Salza or Doore will contact you and you tell us where you are."

"Sure thing," Bitter replied, smiling, and took the long, black cloak that hung from the back of the training room's door. Her armour was just about dry, but it didn't matter. She swung the cape over her, tying it from the front and lifted the huge hood over her head, covering her features. The large hood created a patch of dark shadows over her eyes, and she looked more like an assassin rather than a warrior. "I'm hoping I'm good enough." Bitter said in a small voice. "For years, I've always wanted to make something of myself.


	4. Galactic Lord, Prince Cooler

**Frostbite  
>Chapter 3: Galactic Lord, Prince Cooler<strong>**  
><strong>**Destination: Lord Cooler's Spaceship-Office**

In the sanctum of Lord Cooler, all was quiet.

There were four large screens before them, showing different panels of Space, from Planets Unknown to rolling landscapes of stars. As usual, the room was very dark, and only the feeble light of the Computer screen lit the room in a dim yellowish glow. Lord Cooler preferred the dark. Salza knew. Together, they walked towards a chair that sat in front of the four monitors, the back of the chair facing at them, a lengthy tail draped at the side, but even without a reaction they knew that Lord Cooler was fully aware of their presences.

Lord Cooler was silent as usual and Salza did not wish to report to Lord Cooler about Bitter's results, and so he gave a glance to his men that now wasn't really the time.  
>Throughout the entire day, Neiz and Doore spoke softly to Lord Cooler about their upcoming missions in the next few days while Salza operated the computer systems, awaiting any calls from Cooler's men or family. He suspected that allowing himself and his men to take over Planet Mazipa would cause some disagreement with his brother, Frieza. Salza got ready for that incoming call of his brat brother. Neiz remained holding the clipboard closely, hoping Lord Cooler would notice it. He didn't.<p>

Still, the room remained silent, only broken by Neiz's and Doore's voices. Neiz insisted that Salza tells Lord Cooler about Bitter's results, but Salza shook his head. Any moment now, Frieza would appear. Salza didn't realise how long it was going to take and only hoped that Bitter would forgive them for their late return, but he was afraid of Lord Cooler being angry. He seemed very tense today; perhaps he suspects an incoming call from his brother. But Lord Cooler was like this for years, why did it seem so different now?  
>An incoming alert squawked Salza back from his thoughts, and Neiz and Doore strained their ears to listen to Salza answering the message, feeling partly sorry for him to encounter Lord Frieza's fuming face.<p>

"Commander Salza at your serv-" But Salza's automatic greeting trailed off the moment he saw another being that wasn't Frieza at all. On the screen, he saw the large figure staring back at him, with plump pink lips and several small spikes that sat on the skull of his head. His complexion was a hard pink all over, despite his fearsome image. He wore a green scouter over his left eye and his narrow eyes gleamed maliciously at Salza. "Oh!" Salza jolted at the sight of the unexpected caller. Wearing Frieza's solider armour, Salza knew instantly who is was and a smirk tugged at the end of his lips. "I'm sorry pink rubber pig!" Salza smirked cruelly, sitting sideward in his chair. Neiz and Doore exchanged worried glances from each other. They all hated Dodoria, Frieza's Commander, but they all never had the guts to actually speak to him ill-mannered during Frieza's presence. Neiz and Doore didn't like Salza with this attitude. It was often dangerous and misused. "I've been expecting someone more important."

"Better wipe that smile from your face, dimwit!" Dodoria replied, a smile of amusement twisted his face. "You-"

"Be silent Dodoria!" A voice sharply interrupted the two Commanders. Salza's heart froze the moment he saw the small, infamous figure appear from behind Dodoria's back. It seemed that Dodoria was stunned by the sudden sharp interruption of their conversation. Neiz and Doore were too shocked to laugh at Salza's foolishness.

Salza stared, unsure what to say, embarrassed of being caught by Lord Frieza himself. The small figure of Frieza was not to be mocked. He may be smaller, much smaller than his older brother Cooler, but his powers were amazing, even to the naked eye, and taking the appearance closely related to his father's King Cold, he was known for his light-pink skin, black horns and eerie voice. He was nothing like Cooler. Salza watched as Frieza's face screwed into sarcasm.

"Important enough?" Frieza murmured, not amused with Salza. Salza bowed his head down instantly.

"Certainly. My apologies, Lord Frieza." Salza stuttered. "However, I am afraid…Lord Cooler is quite busy at this moment." Salza leaned back, looking at Cooler, his eyes ranging for some sort of reaction. He knew that Cooler could hear him. Doore and Neiz turned to their boss. Cooler was staring at the computer screens, as if he didn't really care, and then his dark eyes moved to Salza. He was waiting for an answer. Saying nothing at all, Cooler lifted a finger and pointed at the screen, indicating that he wanted to speak to Frieza. Salza paused, still uneasy with Cooler falling silently cold. He turned back to Frieza. "One second please, Lord Freiza…" Salza added. Frieza replied with an unmoved stare, his small arms folded across his chest like a small, defiant child.  
>There was a pause, silence lingered in the room, and Salza was busy typing in some sort of computing instructions. Soon, Neiz and Doore snarled in the shadows when the infamous face of Frieza flickered on two of the computers screens, taking over the top-right and bottom-right screen. Salza leaned back, watching the scene before him, hoping, just wondering how Cooler would sort this out. Frieza frowned to see the face of his older brother, Cooler the Icejin, his face a mask of shifting shadows. His skin was a deep-purple shade, much taller and with more masculine features than Frieza. On his chest, shoulders and head Cooler had armoured-like carapaces and under his narrow red eyes was a streak of blood-red skin. This appearance was well-known throughout the galaxy, and many feared him, but surprisingly Cooler was much, more respected than Frieza. It took Frieza only a second to realise that Cooler was wearing his Squadron armour too, the one shoulder-padded uniform Frieza hated.<p>

Cooler didn't even crack a smile, but his voice was full of fake enthusiasm.  
>"Brother. Glad to see you-" His tone darkened. "-Is what I wish to say, but we both know about the incredibility of this statement." Cooler's dark-crimson eyes shifted to another figure behind Frieza. A Saiyan, wearing one of Frieza's armour. Cooler's eyes narrowed. "You even brought a hapless spectator." His voice was thick with mockery. "How very unsavoury." He added distastefully.<p>

"Coordinates 640.234.500. Does that tell you anything?" Frieza hissed, ignoring his older brother's mocks. Cooler blinked.

"Planet Cooler 359."

"Planet Mazipa!" Frieza correctly sternly.

"Of course!" Cooler smiled, waving a hand carelessly. "A squadron of mine just made short work of it."

"Oh, so I guess congratulations are in order?" Frieza frowned, unfolding his arms and letting them drop down his sides. "Cooler, that planet was under my assignment. You are not acting in accordance with the plan and to break an agreement for no apparent reason diverges greatly from your usual modus operandi. I demand classification!" Cooler stared coldly at his little brother, still seeing the spoilt little brat that broke the family apart. Cooler felt his hate boil up, but something else emerged further up in him, something that he has experienced before. Salza, Doore and Neiz stared at the commotion. Cooler looked at Frieza sharply.

"What a disgrace! No, I had never expected you to make such a nuisance of yourself over a minor incident. As if I were not preoccupied with more immediate problems!" What surprised Frieza was that Cooler slowly lost his rage and his face formed a gentle smile. "Frieza, mistakes happen!"

"A 'Mistake'?" Frieza uttered slowly, a small laugh flooded from his cruel smirk. "…You don't make mistakes." He was burningly eager to annoy his brother like he has always done, but seeing him sitting there, smiling, not even getting a cold reaction of his snide remark, Frieza frowned angrily. He closed his eyes, trying to calm down. "So…this is it?" His eyes snapped opened furiously. "You…you don't even bother with a flimsy excuse?" Frieza screamed, his eyes fuming crossly. Cooler smirked to himself, satisfied that his calmness had at last provoked a reaction from Freiza first. But Cooler knew that his rage he was hiding would come back to haunt him. Frieza pointed an accusing finger at him. "Don't act unconcerned! I know exactly what you are trying to accomplish here!"

"Oh, I won't ever understand your enthusiasm. Frieza, look, your resentfulness is completely over my head. As a general proposition: I am willing to let you choose either of the planets I am scheduled to conquer within the next few weeks…if that makes your ego feel a little more comfortable?" Cooler paused, waiting for an answer. But he expected more of a spoilt-brat frown from him. Frieza frowned at him. "No?" He spoke as if he was talking to an infant. Then Cooler let out a deep sigh. "My guess is you want to settle this dispute in father's presence?"

"Papa?" Frieza gasped, as if he was heavily insulted by Cooler's question. He leaned over. "Cooler, how old are we…?"

"That is what I am asking you." Cooler leaned forward, planting his elbows into the arms of his levitating chair. "Why won't we deal this situation like the grown-ups we are?"

"Matter of Business!"

"Matter of business…" Cooler repeated tiredly. He leaned back. "Well then! I told you about my means of compensation. What is more, I would even be willing to vacate Planet Coo…Planet Mazipa for you, if you are that eager to lay your hands on it." He leaned forward, feeling that he simply couldn't be bothered arguing with his brother. "One planet more or less doesn't make that much of a difference to me," He paused. "…besides paperwork of course." He turned around, and Frieza seemed disgusted to see his brother turn the back of his chair at him. "I ask you to send me a message once you have come to a decision as I really am not in the mood to discuss trivial matters with you right now. I will hear from you." Cooler nodded to Salza, and Salza nodded back.

"Now just you wait Cooler, that's not what I mean-"

Frieza's voice died the instant Salza stop the communication connection and a blue screen replaced Frieza's face. Doore was relieved of not being able to hear Frieza's voice.  
>Cooler looked up to his three men. They stared back at him in silence, as if children witnessing their parents having a vicious argument. His eyes slowly moved over to the black clipboard that Neiz was holding.<p>

"I see you have a report, Neiz." Cooler murmured unenthusiastically, resting his chin in his hand. Neiz blinked and realised what he was talking about.

"My Lord," Neiz stuttered and Salza, Doore and Neiz all dropped down to one knee together, bowing their heads. "We have come to you today to report of a warrior that may interest you. We would have reported this to you earlier, but you were busy."  
>At first, nothing happened, and they paused, unsure. But then from the midst of the darkness, Cooler's voice oozed out.<p>

"Go on…"

Salza obeyed.

"We have put one of our Warrior's into the Extreme Test and have gained a remarkable score." Salza made sure he was careful with his words to fulfil his friend's wishes. "He goes by the name Bitter, and has been with us for seven years."

"He worked below the decks of Planet Coola No. 256 and was eager to take the test," Neiz filled in.

"And for the first time ever, he has succeeded in the narrow-tunnel trap and has reached upon Doore's level," Salza added. Then Cooler's interest grew. He sat up for a moment, as finally something different and exciting has finally happened. He blinked, and then leaned over. Cooler's eyes seemed to have sparked in interest.

"This… 'Bitter'…has overcome that part?" Cooler asked in his deep-bass soft voice. Salza nodded.

"Yes, sir," Salza reported. "With a total score of 224."

"224?" Cooler blinked, amazed. How was anyone able to get a score so high? He turned back to his Squad. "So tell me," His chair levitated towards his three men. "Why are you reporting this to me?" He folded his arms.

"Simply because we know that you'd be interested." Doore replied.

"Yeah, and we were just hoping…" Neiz paused, waiting for some sort of reaction from Cooler to see if he should carry on speaking. He got none, and so he was cornered to say what he was going to say in the first place. "…we were just wondering if you would be interested to allow Bitter to…join the Squadron?"

Cooler said nothing for a moment, thinking about it. He looked up at the dark ceiling before his heavy crimson eyes set cold on Salza.

"Bitter has been working with us, loyally I hope, for seven years. To have another warrior by my side would be great, practically with some actual talent and fighting-skills. But Salza, this is your Squadron. I say it's up to you." He held a hand out to Salza. "What would you like?"

"Well…" Salza slowly answered. "It would make a great difference for us. I know Bitter myself personally, and he's a great warrior who is totally dedicated to you, my Lord."

"Really?" Cooler said blankly. Salza nodded.

"Of course, Sir! He wanted to work more closer with you." He smiled. "And besides, it would be such an honour to allow him in my team."

"So, you've decided to allow another one, huh?" Cooler said with a small smirk.

"So it seems," Salza smiled back. Then he bowed down, followed by Doore and Neiz. "I thank you, my Lord. Bitter is a wonderful warrior who will not fail you." He looked up. "Does this mean he is allowed to board the Cooler Space-Ship?"

"Of course,"

Salza, Doore and Neiz felt like little boys on Christmas day, but they held their mounting excitement down and kept their professional attitudes, bowing down once again to Cooler.

"Thank you, my Lord,"


	5. Somewhere

**FrostBite**

**Chapter 4: Somewhere****  
><strong>**Destination: Planet Coola No. 256: The Library**

The Library was filled with countless books. Books about life, about education, about history, about tactics, books about anything to do with every day life.

A figure sat alone by a black table, a pile of several books sat on the table untouched. A few books splayed on the table, and some were even placed upside-down, spread open to keep the page from being lost. The figure, dressed in a simple black cloak tied at the waist with a blue cord, hiding their features and head, wore black pants and a long-sleeved shirt, hiding all signs of flesh. Two strands of the darkest blue cascaded down her front. She was intensely reading the history books of the Cold family. For years, ever since she had the library to her aid, she has been studying the history of her Icejin Royal family and why did the Queen left, why was everything happening so chaotic.

The Library was a hollow chamber, one of the largest rooms on Planet Coola No. 256, and one of Bitter's favourite places on her new home planet.

Bitter rested her back against the wooden chair, resting one leg and letting it draping over the other, resting in the cool shade of the corner of the Library. Her eyes stared down, reading the brown-leather book labelled in golden letters: The Icejin Royal Family. She glanced at the image of a very young King Cold, father of Frieza and Cooler, and read the pages of King Cold's printed journal after Frieza's birth.  
><em><br>'I, Cold, King of Icejins forewarn that he who disturbs the Icejins shall have released our Wrath. He who walked abroad with the demons at the dawn of Man shall once again violate the Universe._

_Frieza, Ruler of Evil, son of Cold, will be free at the turn of a distance millennia. At his heels, plagues and locusts._

_Harvests fail under the broken skies._

_And King Cold Sayeth:_

_'He is the shadow across the sun: He is the bringer of plagues. His wrath will consume all lands. And shall be ceaseless. He will overrule Cooler, as he failed to be the Son of Cold.''  
><em>  
>Bitter frowned angrily. No wonder Cooler worked away from home. His father was horrible! To know that his younger brother was his father's favourite, Bitter would understand why Cooler hated his father. Bitter couldn't help but hate him herself for his actions, though she respected the royal family. As Bitter read further, she leaned that King Cold seemingly replaced his older son for Frieza, and breaking the family apart, the Queen, known as Queen Winter, left the family for unknown reasons. These reasons were never discovered, as she has been missing for two years now.<p>

Bitter's blood-red eyes stared into the black words and white page, not reading them. No, she was thinking too deeply to even read. She began to think back to her past unwillingly, as much as she hated to, she stopped at nothing to discover the reasons why Planet Cold was attacked. The armour of the soldiers was recognisable. Two shoulder-padded creatures, definition of Frieza's army, that's right.

Bitter closed her eyes, feeling the sensation of burning tears hurting the back of her eyes, the echoes of children and families screaming scared her, sometimes she felt that someone was going to grabbed her on her shoulder, screaming for help and yet already their soul has already departed their body, their eyes gaping open, blood pooling from their eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

Bitter snapped back into the real world when she felt a hand grabbing her shoulder, making her jolt and gasp sharply, spinning around to see the warm faces of Neiz, Doore and Salza.  
>"Mon petit fleur," Salza whispered, hoping that his voice wouldn't travel very far. "I hope we haven't scared you." Bitter flashed a faint smile.<p>

"Nope, all good, I guess," Bitter whispered back, embracing them three in turn. Doore boomed his foghorn laugh at the sight of the desk.

"I never knew you were a bookworm Bitter," He smirked. Bitter shrugged.

"I was always into books. I love reading," Closing the book gently, Bitter began to pile all of the books in one. "So, how was your meeting? Took your time didn't you?"

"My apologies, mon petit fleur," Salza replied. "It took longer than we thought. Lord Cooler was having a…word with Frieza."

"Frieza," Bitter repeated frostily, something distasteful in her voice. Doore chuckled, ruffling Bitter's hooded head.

"I see you don't like Frieza?"

"I fucking hate him…" She snarled, the images of those soldiers burned in her mind like a migraine. Neiz noticed the sourness in her voice, and realised that he could cheer her up.

"Oh, Bitter, we have told Lord Cooler about your results," Neiz beamed. Bitter suddenly looked bright and more alive.

"Oh? What did he say?"

Salza, Neiz and Doore smiled gleefully, hearing the hidden plead in her voice for the results. All eyes turned to Neiz, giving him the honours to tell Bitter the news.

"We spoke to Lord Cooler and he was most pleased,"

"Most pleased?" Bitter repeated, unsure if Neiz was telling the truth. Neiz nodded.

"Of course. He had a heated argument with his brother, and your results cheered him up." Neiz saw the true smile on Bitter's face. "He was surprised that managed to squeeze through those tunnels,"

"Yeah, luckily you're not double the size like you were three years ago," Doore smirked, his eyes gentle.

"Doore!" Bitter cried in mock-horror. "Don't say that! I'm at a tender and sensitive age."  
>Doore laughed, deep and booming.<p>

"You know what I mean, Bitter. Allow a foolish Beppa the occasional slip of the tongue."  
>Bitter rolled her eyes. Doore was right. The first few years she was plump due to her survival life in the forest. Her body was the only main source of warmth. Luckily, she lost it all during training back at her new home. Now, she was slim and pretty, flexible for those hard-to-reach places. Doore has seen the mass improvement when he was training her.<p>

"What else did he say?" Bitter asked, hoping there was more. Neiz happily continued.

"Well,"

Salza saw Neiz's knowing look and it was his turn to flash a smile.

"Lord Cooler has allowed you to join the Lord Cooler Squadron." Salza replied.  
>Bitter's eyes widened, sparking with unspeakable glee and rushed towards Salza's arm, embracing him tightly.<p>

"Oh my Kami! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Bitter cried happily in Salza's shoulder. Neiz and Salza smiled at the scene while Doore laughed at the happy girl. Salza embraced her tightly back. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Salza giggled. He has never seen Bitter act so happy, almost like a little girl.

"No worries, mon petit fleur," Salza chuckled in his heavy French-accent. When they broke the embrace, Bitter smirked darkly at Neiz and lunged onto him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, surprising him. When she finished hugging Neiz, she embraced Doore's tree-trunk arm and they all exchanged a smile.

"So, when do we four start to work?" Bitter giggled.

"Tonight," Neiz replied.

Bitter blinked.

"T-Tonight?" Then she grinned. "Huzzah! That's great!"

"Okay," Salza tapped his chin thoughtfully. "First, we'll get your stuff ready and give you the new outfit." He pointed at his purple armoured squad uniform. "You'll need one of these to join the squad."

Bitter nodded excitingly. Finally, now life was getting somewhere…


	6. No Amount of Beauty

**Frostbite**

**Chapter 5: No Amount of Beauty****  
><strong>**Destination: Cooler Ship-Cooler's Sanctum**

As Salza showed Bitter around Cooler's ship, her new home, Doore and Neiz, like the gentlemen they were (And as much as they hated it) brought Bitter's packed bags and brought it to a single room. It would have been simpler if they shared the same room, but Salza insisted that Bitter has her own room.

Bitter's room was a tiny thing, much like Salza's, Neiz's and Doore's, with a single bed, a small chest for possessions and a glowstone from Planet Beppa in a bracket on the smooth metal , grey wall. There was a single window which revealed the beauty of the vast abyss of space.

Once Bitter was familiar with her surroundings, Salza told Bitter to go see Lord Cooler, but Bitter begged for Salza, Neiz and Doore to come with her. Laughing, they all teased her for being shy with Lord Cooler, occasionally teasing her about her being in love with someone who she hasn't met in person before.

Together, they walked down the long, metal hallways, Salza, Bitter, Neiz and Doore walked down in a line. They encountered a pair of large storm-doors, and Salza entered in a code quickly, too fast for Bitter to catch and winking at her, the doors opened for them. As they entered the room, they saw the back of the levitating throne, and a very angry Lord Cooler was shouting at a large, ugly face of Frieza. They were still arguing about Planet Mazipa, this time, it seemed with more violent and angry tones of voices. Bitter wanted to hide behind Doore, but she was too frightened to even move. Breathing seemed too dangerous itself.

They waited patiently for Cooler to finished, and had enough, Cooler slammed his fist onto the control panel in his throne and the image of Frieza flickered off into the blackness of space. Cooler snarled angrily to himself, cursing Frieza under his breath. Salza, Neiz and Doore were unmoved by Cooler's hot temper, but Bitter wanted to get away from him suddenly, yet she couldn't move.

The silence lingered in the Sanctum for a long while, until Cooler spun around in his throne and faced his men, realising the new figure of Bitter. He saw the small figure, wearing the one shoulder-padded armour of the famous Cooler's Squadron uniform, dark purple pants and long sleeved shirt, very similar to Salza's outfit, yet he saw that Bitter was wearing a large black cloak, hiding her face, head and features from him. He cocked an eyebrow at her. He was expecting more of a massive bouncer like Doore. It surprised him, yet his face was painted with dark-stern frustration.

Bitter stared back at Cooler under the blackness of her large hood, his fierce, dark eyes fixed piercingly onto her. Bitter was unsure if she felt honoured or scared to be in the same room as the real, famous Lord Cooler.

Cooler was just as she imagined him so…only more handsome.

Salza bowed down slightly to Cooler, seeing the staring competition between Bitter and Cooler.

"Lord Cooler, let me introduce you to our new member of the Squad. Bitter." Salza turned to Bitter, waving a hand to Cooler. "Bitter, I'm sure you know the Galactic Lord, Cooler."

"Of course," Bitter said, smiling sweetly, creating a blind-spot of her fright for a brief second for a good first-impression. She bowed down gracefully to Cooler. "Good day, my Lord,"

Cooler thawed immediately, forgetting his previous black mood. There was something…sweet…about Bitter, almost as sweet and as innocent as a lady of a royal family. But he couldn't possibly tell who or what Bitter was. Her eyes held something of an ice cruelty that no amount of beauty could entirely dispel.

"Good day to you, Bitter," Cooler nodded coolly, his eyes falling on Bitter. "You must be very good to surpass those traps and tricks. I see that you've been training. Bitter, you are learning well and learning fast. I have heard how hard you train in the arts of war with Doore. You are leaning to think like a warrior and a servant to me. Logical. Deadly. You have become aware of our situation, and it showed in your words and in your abilities."

"Thank you, my Lord" Bitter replied modestly, embarrassed at being the centre of such admiration. Cooler stared at Bitter, his eyes full of dominance. There was silence. Bitter met his gaze levelly.

"You are different from the others,"

She didn't know what surprised her more; the gentleness of his voice or the fact that it was speaking to her. She scrambled for a reply.

"Uhh…what do you mean?"

"Beppa. Zalt-Jin. But you are neither." His voice was soft, almost caring.

"I'm a half-breed. A Mutant." Bitter lied, and even through her surprise a little bitterness leaked into her voice.

"But which sides do you choose?"

"Neither wanted me," Bitter replied, her crimson-irised eyes looking into the blood-redness of Cooler's. "So I dedicated myself to you, Lord Cooler."

"You are different from the others," Cooler repeated.

"No," Bitter said. "We're all the same. We just looked different."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Bitter, Your Majesty," she replied from the blackness of her draping hood.

"Who are you, Bitter?" came the question again. This time, Bitter realised that the question was meant to encompass all of them.

"Lord Cooler's Squadron, sir!" She spoke loudly, standing straight and saluted to him, her features stern.

Cooler was silent for a few seconds. Then with a small smile:

"Welcome Bitter. Welcome to the team." His eyes deeply looked into Bitter, her expression cool.

"It's an honour to work with you, my Lord,"

"Good. Until next we speak, then."

"U-Until then…"

And with that pronouncement, he turned and levitated away, back into the darkness of his sanctum.

Bitter stood where she was for a moment, watching Cooler depart, leaving Salza, Neiz and Doore. Salza, Neiz and Doore rose from the ground and walked away in silence. Bitter remained unmoved for a moment.

Puzzled and a little shaken, she bowed her head down and left the sanctum, her footsteps gradually dwindling to nothing.


	7. The Missing Queen

**FrostBite  
>Chapter 6: The Missing Queen<strong>**  
><strong>**Destination: Planet Knot**

**Day Seven of Planet Trade Organisation**

The day was wearing down to a sultry evening when they reached Planet Knot. Salza, Neiz, Bitter and Doore reached the top of the cliff edge. Salza and Neiz got there first; Doore and Bitter trudged along afterwards. The red orb of the sun was dipping beneath the western mountains, sending long shadows knifing across the panorama spread beneath them; and there they stood for a while, as they always did after making short work of their jobs. Bitter quickly got used to the fast process of destroying a single Planet for Lord Cooler. She enjoyed the work; it was always a field-trip to her rather than work.

Sometimes when they finished earlier, they hunt for exotic foods and create a camp-fire, eating the food and telling jokes and tales.

Today was an earlier night for them. They have worked hard all week, and with Bitter working besides them, the job was faster.

Now, they looked down into the shallow mountain valley where their home lay.  
>Cooler's Spaceship dominated the valley floor; an enormous wheel-shaped construction of black and grey metal. It stood on countless artificial legs. Inside that ship was Bitter's new home: long hallways, storage rooms, worker's quarters, Lord Cooler's Sanctum. Besides all of that, it was Bitter's home, their family home with her brothers, and the only home she had ever known.<p>

Planet Knot was famously known for its endless violent winds, but they stood firmly on the ground, only whisking their hair and cloaks.

"Today was awesome!" Bitter burst out laughing happily, stretching her arms out as she walked towards a broken stone-throne. It was the only thing untouched by them. She sighed heavily as she sat down on the stone throne. The men followed her, smiling to see Bitter happy with her new job and life.

"Much better than working under the irons in Planet Coola No. 256?" Doore boomed joyfully and Bitter nodded.

"Damn, I'm pooped," Neiz sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead, smiling.

"Would you like the honours, Bitter?" Salza asked, holding up a small red piece of cloth to Bitter. Bitter knew clearly that it was the Cooler's Squad flag. They always planted one on each Planet they destroy, claiming it as Lord Cooler's. Bitter beamed a smile and took the red cloth off Salza, hoping out of the stone throne and set off down the dirty path that ran along the cliff edge, eventually curving off into the valley and plunging into the level ground. She stopped, pushing a button at the side of a small metal pole and instantly the metal pole extended. Bitter grinned and raising the flag high with pride she stabbed the pole into the dirt ground, newly christening the planet: Planet Coola No. 278.  
>She heard Doore, Salza and Neiz let out a cheer and clapping their hands as Bitter nodded at it and rushed back up to meet them.<p>

"Is he back yet?" Doore asked, scanning the narrow road that ran up the thickly stoned side of the valley and away from the mountains. Bitter looked up at him, squinting her eyes against the violent gust of wind.

"I don't think so. I didn't see him when I was down there." Bitter brightened.

Neiz conceded with a tired sigh, sitting on a clump of rock by the throne. Soon, Salza, Bitter and Doore followed and sat down. "So," Bitter asked at a length. "Now that we have completed a whole week of work, what do we do now?"

"It's simple, really." Neiz smiled. "We give Lord Cooler the usual report, the statues of the planet, what's good and bad about it, and we may get a reward for our week's work."

"Like getting paid for doing a job?"

"Pretty much, but better,"

"So, tell me, what's better than money?" Bitter murmured. Salza chuckled.

"Sometimes, Lord Cooler is kind enough to grant us any wish we want. So long it's at his own reach. I would wish for a simple day off."

"Really?" Bitter asked, surprised. "Just one day?"

"One day is enough for me, otherwise I'd get bored." Salza beamed. Bitter turned to Doore.

"What about you?"

"Oh, I just ask if I could spend an entire day in the training room…killing!" Doore grinned darkly. "I sometimes need to satisfy my blood-thirsty need." He saw the fright in Bitter's eyes and chuckled loudly. "Don't worry, I won't kill you." He ruffled her head roughly, making his little sister giggle. "It's just what us Beppas are like."

"The blood-thirsty kind." Bitter nodded. "I see, and no worries. I can be like that myself, just not in public."

"You were certainly blood-thirsty in today's shift, Bitter." A voice shook them all aware and they all spun around, seeing the floating figure of Lord Cooler looking down at them.

"L-Lord Cooler!" Neiz gasped, and instantly, all four of them stood up and bowed down to him formally. Bitter blushed under her cloak hood, realising that she was being watched by Cooler all day. Cooler glided down towards the ground, lightly landing on the ground in the centre of their friend-circle they sat at.

"But do not fear, Bitter. With the Universe as it is, you need a blood-thirsty attitude." Cooler reassured her and Bitter nodded.

"Yes, of course, my Lord," She murmured, embarrassed. Cooler walked towards the throne and sat on it slowly, draping his long, purple tail down the side of the chair. He stared coldly at his men for a moment, before waving a hand at them.

"You may sit,"

Together, they sat back into their places, looking up at Cooler, waiting for him. "Salza,"  
>Salza bowed down slightly to Cooler, as he stood by his right-hand side of the throne.<p>

"Sir!"

"Report."

"Today's report couldn't have been any better." Salza smiled to himself. Doore, Bitter and Neiz watched. "The civilisations here were psychics but they were no match for me."

"Hey," Neiz and Bitter turned to Doore who whispered to them for their attention. "If they were Psychics here, wouldn't you have thought that they would have seen us coming?"

"Just because their Psychics, doesn't mean their smart," Neiz smirked cruelly, but when they were interrupted by Cooler clearing his throat, they all shook and sat straight, facing Cooler. Bitter swallowed a hard lump to see Cooler's eyes seemingly piercing hard directly at her. He paused, and Salza was silent, staring at his men as if they were mental. Bitter dared not to move, but Doore and Neiz seemed calm. There was a long pause, until Cooler waved a hand at Salza, his eyes never leaving them.

"Continue, Salza,"

As his Commander reported him the statues, Cooler's eyes fixed sharply onto Doore, Neiz and Bitter, particularly Bitter. Bitter didn't blink or move. Cooler was judging her, seeing that the violent winds were blowing against her, he realised that her body shape appeared to be different from a male species. After Salza finished, Cooler nodded and turned to him. "Thank you, Salza. Now…" He stood up and everyone watched him closely. Cooler paused, as if deep in thoughts, his eyes staring forward but away from everyone's eyes, as if he was staring at something that was behind them. Bitter, Doore, Neiz and Salza watched him, waiting for his next command, wondering what he was thinking.  
>Bitter felt her blood froze when Cooler whipped his hand at her, and a knifing spark of bluish-white Ki was fired at her. She cried out and waved her hand and arm at it. Reflecting the Ki perfectly, but his surprisingly small amount of Ki burned Bitter's skin and she felt it scorch the back of her hand. She clutched onto it, hissing, trying hard not to show any pain. Cooler's hand remained unmoved for a while, before dropping it to his side. He didn't even smile at the results. "Hmm, good reflexes, but you need to toughen your defence," Bitter stared at him as if disgusted with his comment. Cooler's features hardened. "You got that, Bitter?"<p>

"Y-Yes, my Lord," Biter stuttered.

"Good," Cooler said frostily and then he waved his hands at his men. "You may go inside the Ship and rest. Tomorrow we shall conquer Planet Faxford just to spite my little brother," A devilish smirk ripped through his face. They all stood up, bowing down to Lord Cooler and began to walk away. Bitter stared at Cooler, feeling hurt by his cold-hearted attitude, but when she felt Doore's comforting hand on her shoulder, she turned away and walked off with Doore.

Cooler stood there, arms folded, thinking.

"You are a strange one, Bitter," he murmured heartlessly to himself, watching them enter the Ship in the distance.

They hurried up to the Ship, their feet scuffing up puffs of dust from the scorched earth. They were soon inside and out of the sun. On their way to their rooms, they waved to the other workers that they came across; but they met nobody that they knew well enough to delay them.

"Bitter, are you okay?" Doore asked silently, hugging her tightly from behind. Salza, Neiz and Doore stopped outside their room and they all turned to Bitter. Bitter seemed traumatized. Neiz held onto her hand, seeing the black smears on her hand.

"Oh, Lord Cooler was kind. He didn't put much effort behind that,"

"Not much effort?" Bitter almost screamed. "That stung like a bitch!"

"Luckily, this will heal in a few days," Neiz smiled, but it did nothing to calm the raging woman down. Bitter sighed deeply, hugging Doore and suffocating in his beefy embrace.

"I can't understand though, why is Lord Cooler…victimising me?" Bitter hissed.

"Lord Cooler is testing you, mon petit fleur," Salza said gently.

"Really?" Bitter murmured. "Did he test you guys like that when you first joined forces from him? Did you get picked on you guys on the very first week of your job with him?"  
>There was a small silence, then it was broken by Neiz.<p>

"I don't think so,"

Bitter frowned and turned away in Doore's arms, hiding her face into his broad chest. Doore hugged her tighter.

"Perhaps Lord Cooler sees more potential in you." Salza beamed, and Bitter glanced over her shoulder.

"You think?"

"Of course. If he didn't see much in you, then how come he allowed you to join my team?"

"Because you asked him?"

"It's because he sees much potential in you. He knows that you are a great fighter."

"Pfft," Bitter rolled her eyes. "What's his power-level like compared to mine?" She folded her arms and frowned.

"Oh, ho, ho," Doore boomed. "You can't challenge yourself with Lord Cooler, Bit-Bit,"

Salza tapped the side of his green scouter, allowing it to scan Bitter.

"Hmm," he hummed to himself. Then he smirked. "Bitter, your Power-level is 42,000."

"And what about Prince Cooler?" Bitter asked. Neiz, Salza and Doore exchanged worried glances, then Doore spoke.

"120,000,000."

"W-WHAT?" Bitter fairly screamed. "Then I'm fucked then, aren't I?"

"Well, I guess you'll be safe. You see, Neiz's power-level is the same as yours. 42,000. Doore's power-level is 43,000 and my power-level is 120,000." Salza wagged a finger at Bitter. "Don't piss Lord Cooler though. His power-level increases, just like Frieza in max-power. But his power-level is the same as Frieza in Max-Power." Bitter's eyes widened but she said nothing. Then Salza touched her cheek. "Don't worry, mon petit fleur, over time, you'll train with different people, increasing your power-level. That's the beauty of training. But for now, let's get some sleep. You need it for tomorrow."

'Yes, of course," Bitter sighed.

"Just one question though,"

"Yes Salza?"

"What species are you?" Bitter felt all of her blood drain from her face. "I mean, I'm sure Lord Cooler is aware of what you are, even when hiding it. And that could be related to why he's picking on you." Salza pointed out. Bitter tapped her chin thoughtfully. Neiz nodded in agreement.

"That's true. We've worked with you for so long and yet we have no idea what you are. I've been curious. Can't you tell us?"

Bitter realised that Salza could be right. But she was tired, and Cooler certainly scared her today. She paused, and then with a faint smile she nodded.

"I shall tell you tomorrow. I promise. But right now, I just want to sleep."

"I understand," Salza nodded and Bitter smiled at them all.

"I promise I will tell you. After all, you guys are like brothers to me. Thank you for everything. I wouldn't be me if I didn't know you guys." They all shone victorious smiles at each and Bitter wished everyone goodnight. When Neiz, Salza and Doore went into their room, Bitter dragged herself down the hallways, her hand trailing up the metal wall and went into her bedroom.

For a long while, she sat on the edge of her bed, resting, looking around the metallic walls of her new room. She felt drained. Exhausted, but happy. But Salza was right, much as she hated to admit it; she couldn't hide her identity forever. Cooler would get suspicious, and now that she was working much more closely with him, working on the same Ship rather than far away on Planet Cooler No. 256, she needs to tell Cooler to truth one day. It's been seven years now…

Getting up suddenly, she tugged her cloak over her head and threw it on the bed, then went to stand with her front to the long mirror that hung on the wall. She stared at her reflection.

Framed within the wrought-metal setting of the mirror was a female alien, her body willowy in the shade of icy-blue, her pretty face looking out from a white carapace helmet with a blood-red section in the middle. Running down her back was her brilliant-sapphire hair. Behind her, following the ridge of her spine was her long, calm tail. Her bootless feet now exposed her three-toed feet. Her figure was slim, with wide hips and without the armour, her suit underneath did nothing to hide her round breasts. Her crimson eyes stared at herself, her true-self, and she sighed deeply.

She was a female Icejin.

She tutted to herself. For seven years, she has hidden her identity to everyone, her co-workers, her friends, even Cooler. But this was simply because she was terrified of everyone knowing. Everyone was scared of Icejins, or even hated them, and if they discovered her as a female warrior, that was bad enough. But to know that she was an Icejin too may make her situation worse. She was scared of what people would think. Besides, she would rather stay hidden from all eyes instead of admitting the truth to Cooler. She was much too shy to even see him face-to-face. Meeting him today was bad enough. She couldn't move and either it was because she has never seen an Icejin in person in ages or because she was scared of his demonic power, who knows…

"Don't worry about it," came a voice from the doorway. Bitter started, aware that it was voice she has never heard before and spun around to see a looming, dark figure by the corner of the room. A heated rush of blood covered Bitter's cheeks, embarrassed at being caught looking at herself by a stranger.

"W-Who are you?" Bitter snarled.

She was answered by a high and clear laugh.


	8. The Last and Only Pieces

**Frostbite  
>Chapter 7: The Last and Only Pieces<strong>**  
><strong>**Destination: Cooler's Spaceship-Bitter's Bedroom**

"Stay where you are!" Bitter ordered, her hand splayed out as the stranger walked towards Bitter, taking one step.

"You are hurt," The stranger spoke, its voice female and she pointed at Bitter's wounded hand.

"Stay where you are!" Bitter repeated firmly. The stranger, who appeared to be female, obediently complied with Bitter's order, folding her arms across her chest. The figure was in a deep-vermillion cloak, and Bitter's eyes moved down to see her own black cloak crumpled up on her bed, untouched. Moving her eyes back to the figure she spoke again. "Who are you?" Bitter demanded, her voice calm, her hand still held at the ready.

"You're too cautious, Bitter," The stranger giggled, seeing Bitter's eyes widened. "If you think you can attack me," he held one finger out, her arm folded behind her back. "Hit me."

Bitter paused, her features unmoved for a moment, and the second the stranger saw Bitter snarl angrily, she watched her lunge towards her. The stranger stood still, and once Bitter swung her arm around to hit her from the side of her head, her attack was simply blocked by her finger. Bitter froze, seeing the blockage. Insulted by the move, she pulled back for another try, and then another, but as she quickened her pace, the finger kept getting into her way, with the hardness of a rocky wall. Bitter jumped back, panting, snarling, realising that this creature was something much more different than anything she has ever encountered. "Y'know, attacks imply mistrust" The stranger replied. "And that does get us off on the wrong foot." She giggled again, folding her arm behind her back, her eyes glittered an icy shade of red, like fresh snow draped in red lights. "Have all Icejins turned this unpleasant?"

"You leave my race out of this!" Bitter hissed. "Who are you? How did you know my name and my race?"

"Can't we talk like mature ladies rather than aggressive men?" The stranger asked softly, not a hint of anger reached her, which made Bitter wonder. Who the HECK was this woman? The stranger giggled again. "Bitter, you certainly have been with the male species for far too long. You've practically lost all of your lady manners. I just want to talk with you."

Bitter paused at a time, considering. She was weighing up the dangers of trusting this woman against the advantages that she might be able to help her. This woman obviously knew Bitter, perhaps watched her for a time, knowing that she has been with no one but men. And men like Doore, to add to the point. She has turned blood-thirsty to strangers, and her limited trust with people cannot blossom if she doesn't have earth to plant the seed in. Perhaps this was her earth, the new life of her hope, the beginning of her trust. Bitter appeared to come to a decision and dropped her hand.

"Okay," she said to the stranger. "We can talk."

"Good," She felt the stranger's smile in her sweet voice. "You're hurt," She walked towards Bitter and softly took her hand. Bitter felt something strange in her, feeling the sensation of a mother's touch in her fingertips. Her hands were slim and cool. "You took a pretty nasty hit from Cooler, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Bitter said, still wary. The stranger gave Bitter a friendly smile from under her cloak and Bitter smiled faintly back. "How did you know about Lord Cooler?"

The stranger folded her arms and shook her head.

"Pfft, Cooler, he's not as difficult as Frieza,"

Bitter suddenly snapped onto her offensive side.

"How dare you insult my Lord like that! Comparing him to a low-life like Frieza!" Bitter yelled furiously. The stranger looked back at her calmly.

"I think I have every right to talk about my sons like that, don't you think?" The stranger said, giving Bitter a sombre glance.

Bitter inhaled sharply to snap back, but she felt something caught in her throat. Wait, sons?

"Did you say 'sons'?" Bitter looked at her, suspicion still mirrored in her bright red eyes. The stranger gave her a short laugh.

"Yes, Bitter, Sons!"

Bitter paused for a moment, considering how to react, thinking.

"Then…" she said at length. "Are you…?"

For some reason, she couldn't finish, the stranger saw that, so smiling, she pulled her hood down and Bitter's jaw dropped opened. Standing before her was another female Icejin, her skin the lightest shade of cherry-blossom pink. She had the same white carapace as Bitter, only with a beautiful sapphire and amethyst section in it, like glittering glimmer flowers. Her lips were pretty, a shade of dark blue and her eyes were a beautiful shade of cerise-red. Under her eyes she had sections of cherry-red, like Cooler. Small but sweet golden earrings hung from her ears and Bitter felt her eyes water in shame to realise that standing before her was the beautiful Icejin Queen, Queen Winter. "Q-Queen Winter?" Bitter exclaimed, seeing the smug grin on her face to see her react. Bitter realised that she has rudely spoke to, insulted and tried to attack her own Queen. Bitter bit her lower lip. Then she dropped to her knees, pressing her head to the ground. "P-Please forgive me, your majesty."

Queen Winter shook her head with a large smile.

"Don't bother, Bitter. I have nothing to forgive you for as you have done no wrong to me."

Bitter looked up.

"Have I not?" Winter shook her head.

"I expected that reaction. It was my own fault that I approached to you in such a manner." Her features saddened. "I saw how you work for my oldest son, Cooler. You worship him with your life, am I right?" Bitter said nothing, but she nodded as she stood up. Winter smiled at the young Icejin. "Good. And I know how much you want to make him happy. Seeing him depress after everything that poor soul went through breaks my heart, and I'm sure it breaks your heart too." Bitter nodded, suddenly realising that she didn't wanted to think about Cooler being sad. For all she knows, he was as hard as rock, as cold as ice, heartless but not-so-heartless. In fact, now she realised that she wasn't really sure at all what Cooler is really like underneath that veil of the cold-hearted bastard he portrays himself as. Winter placed her hand on Bitter's head, making her look up to the Queen. "And only I can see that it is you, Bitter, that can make my son happy with his life again."

"Wait? Me?" Bitter repeated, suddenly interested, her face animated. "How can I change Lord Cooler? How can I make him happy?" There was an edge of feverish hope in her voice now.

"You'll know when the time comes," Winter replied, smiling, stroking her cheek. "I can help you make him happy again. If you can keep your end of the bargain and promise that you must not reveal my identity to anyone else."

"Can I! I'll do anything you want!" Bitter cried, then suddenly sobered. "But if you're lying about this, just remember…I'm not a good person to have as an enemy."

"I'm not lying." Winter laughed, knowing that Bitter was going to be harsh with her trust. "Do we have a deal?" Winter smiled. Bitter blinked.

"Wait. Why are you here though? What can someone like me do for you?"

"You have had a hard life because of me and my family." Winter spoke softly, her voice full of sorrow. "I am sorry for what has happened to you and your family. If I could change that, I would. Sadly, even I do not have the powers to rewind time itself. Frieza is coming to Cooler's ship in less than ten days along with his father." She saw Bitter frown, making her roll her eyes, smiling. "You must prove to me that you can put up with Frieza, my youngest son and help me get back with King Cold."

"K-King Cold?"

"Yes. I'm sure you remember what has happened to us, don't you?"

"Of course," Bitter murmured lowly. "How can I forget that terrible day?"  
>Winter's eyes dropped to the ground.<p>

"Yes. I know, but it's up to you, a surviving Icejin, to help put the royal family out of our miseries and back as a family."

"H-How?" Bitter stuttered, as if she was told that she was the chosen one, only hope to save the Universe.

"You'll see." Winter winked at her. "So, is it a deal?"

"Deal," She agreed. She looked around, dark eyes bright in the darkness of her room. "Okay, so I guess you'll be with me then, right?"

"Of course,"

"But, what shall I call you then? I can't call you Winter, or Queen."

Queen Winter tapped her chin thoughtfully, and then with a smile she answered:

"Scottish Widow."

"Scottish Widow?" Bitter repeated, not amused. Scottish Widows were old fairytales told about the people on Planet Widow and the word Scottish came from their accent. Winter nodded and so, Bitter decided to share her room with Winter, sitting on the bed talking about each other, exchanging stories of their times-Winter's past with King Cold's attitude towards the depth of his favourite son and Cooler and Bitter's broken past about the invasion of Planet Freeze. Bitter found it amazing how strangely open and honest Queen Winter and herself were about their pasts. Bitter asked questions and Winter answered them, explaining that she has been watching King Cold, Frieza and Cooler closely for the past few years, and seeing Bitter made her realise that Bitter has a chance to help Cooler regain confidence. The true utter reason why Queen Winter left was out of love. She wanted to test her husband, to see how he could cope without her, to see how he treats the children and most importantly how it will change him. From the past two years, Freiza just became worse and worse and Cooler became more closed-up and hides away from his family, often scorning about his father. Winter knew it was about time she did something about this. Bitter asked what has happened to Cooler, why he was the way he was, but even his mother was unsure herself. She knew that Cooler was closed-up, not saying a word about his past to anyone, why he hated his younger brother so much, but Bitter understood why he would feel like that after Winter explained her side of the story. But Bitter was eager to know, she wanted to be there for him, not working under him, just facing him eye-to-eye and allow him to open his heart to someone. Bitter knew herself how much damaged bottling up feelings can do to the heart.

Bitter apologised for not having hot food, so instead of hot food, Bitter and Winter ate bowls of hard, nutty cereal. It was dry and blank but they were happy. They ate in the light of the single glowstone in Bitter's room, and so Bitter realised that, for the first time, she has become instant best friends with a female Icejin. Winter was like…a second mother to Bitter. Bitter got quickly changed into her night-clothes and sat on her bed, eating more of her food.

When they had finished, Bitter looked up to Queen Winter and said: "So now what?"

"I think you deserve some sleep, Bitter." Winter said, remembering Salza's request from earlier on. "You have a busy day with Cooler tomorrow." She winked as Bitter felt as if she was like a child getting told by her mother. But Bitter nodded and yawned freely.

"But what about you? How are you going to get away with working with me if Cooler knows that you're a stranger?"

Winter beamed a mischievous grin at Bitter.

"I'll just say that I was sent by King Cold himself." She rubbed Bitter's back as she tucked her into her bed. "It's okay, Bitter, I have everything sorted." She rested Bitter onto her back and kissed her forehead. "I see a great fortune in your eyes, Bitter." Winter whispered. "I see a grand future with you and my son Cooler."

"Really?" Bitter said lazily. Winter nodded.

"Yes, I do." She rubbed her head and her motherly touches made Bitter slowly drift to the sweet embrace of sleep. "Now sleep well and goodnight."

"Night-Night," Bitter whispered and before she knew it, everything went black.


	9. My Hidden Identity

**Frostbite  
>Chapter 8: My Hidden Identity<strong>**  
>Destination: Cooler's Spaceship-Planet Knot<strong>

The next morning Bitter woke up to realise she wasn't dreaming of a Fairy last night. That the true Queen Winter herself was real.

She only had to walk into Cooler's Sanctum to see Salza, Neiz and Doore standing to attention. The moment she entered, their eyes snapped at the cloaked figure of Bitter and they all hissed her name, indicating that she should stand beside them as something very important was happening. Instantly, she hurried to them.

For a while now, Bitter stood to attention between Neiz and Doore as they stood watching the commotion between Queen Winter and Cooler. Cooler, Salza, Neiz and Doore had no idea who she really was, only by her mock-name Scottish Widow, and Bitter held her tongue down from saying anything, keeping hold of her promise.

She watched as Winter bend down on one knee in front of Cooler.

"My Lord, Cooler, haven't you grown since the last time I saw you?"  
>Cooler frowned.<p>

"How did you know me? Are you related to Bitter in any manner?"

Bitter felt her heart sink to hear her name was tinted with somewhat disgust. Winter looked up bravely; her eyes glittered through the darkness of her hood.

"Oh no, I am merely a friend of your mother."  
>Bitter froze to hear that, but her shadowed feature prevented from everyone seeing her reaction. Cooler looked stunned.<p>

"M-My Mother?"

"Oh yes. I am a good friend of your mother, and I had promised her, when you come of age, that I would keep an eye on you, by request of your father too."  
>Cooler snorted, turning his back towards Winter.<p>

"My father? Would that silly fool have ever requested such a kind and caring person such as yourself to keep an eye on me if he never cared about me in the first place, may I ask?"

"My Lord, believe what you want to believe, but your father and mother are good parents, despite what has happened to you."

Bitter remembered that Scottish Widow was Cooler's very own mother, and so she knew almost everything about him. If she was planning to crack a few barriers from Cooler, Bitter sickly dreaded to see his reaction and the results.

Cooler folded his arms and tutted.

"Fair enough. I accept you to board on my Ship, Scottish Widow, however…"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"May I ask, what Species are you?"

"I am an Icejin, just like yourself, Cooler,"

Bitter felt the sharp, shocked inhaling from Salza, Neiz and Doore and she frowned. Just the reaction she was going to get sooner or later.

"Oh," Cooler said flatly and he let his arms drop. "I was sensing the presences of another Icejin, but I assume it was you all the long." He turned his eyes to Winter. "You may leave. Please sign your details in the record book in the Main-Room for security purposes,"

"Of course, My Lord. And thank you." Winter said softly, bowing down again for him while Salza, Neiz and Doore blinked, turning to Bitter after hearing what Cooler said.  
>Bitter hung her head down.<p>

*

Bitter wandered around in the Main-Room with Winter, Salza, Neiz and Doore. They seemed to have forgotten their misgivings of earlier, and now they were perfectly happy and ready to listen to the promise Bitter made last night. Something felt odd, as if Bitter regretted her promise, but now was the time. Salza, Neiz and Doore had promised not to expose her true form to anyone, not even to Lord Cooler. Bitter told them that the Scottish Widow already knows, and as she was recording her details in the Record Book, Salza ambled alongside Bitter, feeling the warmth through the metallic walls on his face, hearing the chattering of the hallways outside.

"So, what are you Bitter?" Salza asked.

Bitter frowned, not breaking stride.

"I thought it was obvious," She murmured, turning to him. Salza ran his hand through his blond shock of quills.

"It isn't, sorry," Salza spoke softly in his heavy French accent. Bitter stopped and sighed deeply. Salza, Neiz and Doore stopped behind her. She said nothing at first, and then she raised her hand, pointing a finger at the door.

"Someone lock the door, please," She said silently. Salza did and when he returned to them Bitter trembled. "Okay…okay…you guys promise not to say anything?"

"We promise!" They all chanted, Doore was surprised into laughing.

There was a long pause, when it was broken by a small sob. They all looked up to see Bitter's shoulders juddering, but she was reaching up for her hood to reveal herself.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Neiz said suddenly, out of nowhere. Bitter paused, then she shook her head.

"It's been too long, brothers," She said in a small voice and pulled the cloak over her head. Slowly, they watched as her body was revealed. They knew she was a woman, but seeing her long tail, her crimson-padded shoulders and long flick of dark-blue hair they knew she was something more than a half-breed.

Bitter yanked her cloak over her head, and the men gasped silently when she turned around. Tears were sitting heavy in her eyes, but they saw her sweet face. Her sweet Icejin face.

They stood still, eyeing her up and down, shock painted on their faces, but when she saw Doore walking towards her with a broad, brotherly smile she wondered. He placed a hand on her shoulder, crouching down to the small Icejin lady.

"So, you're an Icejin too, just like Lord Cooler?" He said, his voice nothing more but a soft rumble. Bitter hung her head down, her tears rolling down her cheeks. He smiled gently, rubbing the tears away with his big meaty thumb. "Why did you hide it from us?" He asked gently, bringing the question round full circle in Bitter's mind and she knew the answer was the plain truth.

"Because I was scared…" She whispered tearfully. Salza and Neiz felt their hearts sink in sympathy and walked towards Bitter, crouching down to the girl. "I was scared of what you guys would have thought of me,"

"Mon petit Fleur," Salza said sadly, his voice small. "You were scared of what we thought of you simply because you are an Icejin?"

"I was scared of what everyone else thought. If Lord Cooler finds out that I'm a woman and an Icejin, he'd kick me off this ship,"

"No he wouldn't." Neiz giggled faintly. "Cooler is…" he began, stopped, and started again. "Cooler is a respectable leader to us all. If you want a member from the Royal family to understand you, it's Lord Cooler,"

"Yeah, but did you hear the way he said my name to Scottish Widow?" Bitter asked. "Lord Cooler is an amazing leader, but I think he's not the talking type. It's only orders and questions he gives out, not answers."

"Hey, he has allowed a woman on the ship. Scottish Widow, remember? Now isn't that-" Salza began, but Bitter stopped and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, only because she's a friend of the family ordered by his mother and father. I'm just a mere Icejin girl compared to him. Not a Princess or anything…" Bitter frowned, but Doore chuckled.

"Lord Cooler might like you. Besides, I think he'll be more than happy to know there another Icejin his age about."

"I'm ten years younger than him…" Bitter prompted grumpily. Doore shrugged.

"Can't blame a guy for trying." He chuckled and Bitter managed to smile.

"But you must not allow him to touch me."

"Touch you?" Neiz asked, surprised. Bitter saw his reaction.

"Not that way," Bitter giggled, flicking her cerulean ponytail back. "I mean if he makes contact with me."

"Contact?" Salza asked, knowing that he could be stepping into tender territory but driven by his desire to know.

"If he makes contact with me, he'll know in an instant that I'm an Icejin. Scottish Widow told me that last night. It's a thing Icejins have with each other." Bitter said. It was pretty much the answer Neiz has expected, but the matter-of-fact tone of voice still surprised him. "It was bad enough hearing that he could sense me."

"Maybe he fancies you." Bitter's eyes snapped back at Doore, who was laughing at the stunned reaction. "He must be watching you in your sleep," He placed his hands together and rested his head on them, pretending to be sleeping. "Watching you sleep peacefully turns him on, and one night, he'll come into your room and when the time is right, he'll kiss you. Like Sleeping Beauty. And you wake up by his butterfly kisses; you'll reward him with your hand of marriage and sex."

"Doore!" Bitter screamed, blushing furiously at the images in her head and she jumped up to him and began to pound at his chest. She knew that it wouldn't hurt him, but he burst out laughing at the pitiful display of hurting him and he tackled her, tickling her ribs very hard and she screamed, her cry was tangled by laughter and the tears of depression were replaced by tears of joy. Salza, Neiz and Doore knew that he only said that just to make her laugh, and his charm to cheer Bitter up certainly works.


	10. Darkness

**Frostbite  
>Chapter 9: Darkness<strong>**  
>Destination: Planet Knot-10.00pm<strong>

"So, what did you think of that, Bitter?" Queen Winter beamed. Bitter and Winter, still cloaked from unseen eyes, stood on the moving platform, getting a tour around the hallways Bitter already knew from the past week. Salza, Neiz and Doore assisted with Cooler to plant the flag onto Planet Knot before they leave the Planet tomorrow. Although Bitter felt disturbed by the fact that Cooler rejected only her, Bitter was happy to finally get some girly time with the real Icejin Queen herself, but something told her that she was more than a Queen to her…she was something much, much more.

Bitter shrugged, moving her eyes to her black boots.

"Pretty impressive, I must say. Well, while I was busy working with the boys, what were you doing?" Bitter asked without looking up.

"Me?" Winter piped, then she giggled. "Just observed the Spaceship myself. Just to check out how Cooler was getting on. Wow, he has grown up." Bitter felt her smile in her voice. "Maybe you should meet Cooler and tell him your real identity,"

Bitter's eyes snapped back at Winter, who smiled gracefully at the small Icejin's reaction.

"I don't know. It's too early," Bitter said. "Besides, Frieza will be around soon… You said so yourself, right?" Winter nodded. "I don't want him to be bothered by me if Frieza suddenly appears, okay?"

"Frieza hates him," Winter said, as if that was a plus point.

"Cooler wants to hit back," Bitter replied darkly.

"Don't you?"

"Of course, but it's not…as easy as that," She murmured, thinking what else to say. She hated Frieza, Winter could see that, and she knew that Bitter didn't want to offend her, and so she knew that Bitter was going to change the subject. "I can't believe…I mean, there could be a hundred reasons for Cooler to hate me. I lied to him about myself. I should have trusted him, but I can't just dedicate my life to serving someone if I don't know that he could…kill me…"

There was a long silence, during which both thought over what she'd said.

"You're scared, then," Winter stated.

"Of course I'm scared," she snapped, then caught herself. "Don't tell anyone I said that."

"Who, like Cooler?"

"What does that mean?"

Winter smiled impishly.

"Nothing."

"What? You think I…what?"

"You like him, don't you?"

"Everyone likes him,"

"Not like you do."

Bitter was surprised into laughing.

"Your majesty, if anything I'm scared of him. He's got such a…a powerful character, I guess. I don't like him like that." She caught Winter's sceptical glance. "I swear. I really don't!"

Winter shrugged, not really believing her fully.

"Okay," She piped.

Bitter turned to look back over the hallway.

"I can't believe I'm getting drilled by her Majesty,"

"I'm sure my daughter wants Cooler's heart. You know, his heart's much bigger than King Cold's and Frieza's put together."

Bitter blinked.

"What did you call me?" she said uncertainly.

"Daughter," said Winter, looking at her.

"Daughter?" She queried hopefully, smiling.

"Daughter."

Bitter blinked. Daughter? The Royal Queen, who has barely known Bitter for under 24 hours, was calling her daughter. A small flame ignited inside her chest, and she was unsure what it meant, but it felt good. Bitter closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She smiled at first, but then the cruel voices of Cooler ripped her veil of joy and Bitter opened her eyes, with small droplets of tears that sat in her lashes.

"I…I'm going to go outside for some fresh air. I…"

"You need space, don't you?"

Bitter nodded, and Queen Winter rubbed the back of her hooded head. "I perfectly understand, Bitter. I'll be in your room, okay?" Bitter nodded again and Winter watched as Bitter turned on her heels and hurried down the hall, turning to one of the main doorways and disappeared. Winter closed her eyes sadly. "Poor soul. She's missing a piece of her heart."

Before Bitter was a field of emptiness. Planet Knot, a world that was once filled with people, slaughtered and killed just like Planet Freeze. Bitter has recently begun to think again, was she doing right?

The work was a sweep, quicker than she expected, and with Queen Winter by her side, Bitter has become warmly attached to the woman. But now she was called 'Daughter'…whoa, she doesn't know what to do.

Not only that, the cruelness of Cooler was pricking at her like a needle. She has always known him as an understandable, kind, loyal leader, but working closer to him made her see his true colours, and she was hurt by him.

Bitter felt sickened. She had wandered away from the others, walking in an almost daze.

All this killing…men and women slaughtered like animals. It was horrific. Her eyes took in the signs of the battle with numb acceptance.

Here, a scorched spot where a large Ki-Blast had gone astray; there, the signs of Cooler's Armoured Squad. In the crater, there was an earth-mover who had managed to form half an earth-creature golem before being cut down, the golem's upper body frozen in the earth next to his fallen corpse, a statue in the twilight of the dark sun overhead. It was a terrible battle. Such a loss for Planet Knot.

Bitter wandered further and further away from Cooler's Spaceship, tears forming hotly in her eyes. The screams she heard today, it mirrored her haunted, broken childhood. Behind her, she heard the panicked sounds of Neiz after a narrow miss of a Ki blast. And Doore was screaming in rage as he was insulted when a weapon attacked his solid back. Salza yelled orders behind her, all around her and Cooler's laugh haunted the entire wasteland, like watching slaves do his bidding.

"Mummy…" She whimpered, chocked with emotion.

It was then she became aware of a sound, just audible over the blowing of the violent wind. A soft, vicious, angry noise. She narrowed her eyes, her tears instantly forgotten; concentrating on where it was coming from, but the wind foiled her. Looking around, she realised she had strayed some distance away from Cooler's Spaceship, and now it was a few miles away. She turned back to see silhouettes against the lighter darkness.

"Salza?" She thought urgently, warmth overriding her depression to retreat from the sights and smells that surrounded her. She went a little further up the rocky slope, treading cautiously between the bodies of the fallen. It soon became apparent that the noise she had heard was coming from the silhouettes. Now the noises were louder, and it was definitely not Salza, Neiz and Doore. There were five figures, not four and her pretty face froze in a picture of horror. Before her on a smooth rise of a hill, were five yellowed, spindly creatures, with long, bony limbs and ridged backs and tails. Their eyes were milky-white in the dimness and their faces were curiously beaklike, with two protruding ridged on either sides of their lower jaw, and a sharp upper lip that curled over their chins. Their muzzles were stained with dark blood, and as Bitter stared, one of them was biting into the hand of one of the corpses of their very own kind, Macaans.

Bitter took in an involuntary gasp of repulsion. It was barely loud enough for her to hear, but the effects on those before her were immediate. As one, their heads snapped up and they fixed her with their blank gaze. She felt ice seep into her veins, making her numb. For a long moment, they were frozen like that.

"That's one of them!" One bellowed, pointing an accusing finger straight at Bitter.  
>Then Bitter scrambled off the hill and ran, and the group of Macaans gave chase.<p>

She was running into flight as soon as her feet had hit the floor, hollering at the top of her voice for the others. The creatures were a heartbeat behind, springing on to and over the broken bodies of their families and friends with powerful leaps, outpacing her easily. She yelled again, throwing herself into a forward roll onto the ground as one of the things pounced past her, a clawed hand swiping through the space where her head had been a split-second ago. Springing back onto her feet, she twisted and slashed with her tail, carving a bright arc in the twilight; but her attacker writhed away, retreating to a safe distance.

A blur of movement from behind her made her swivel again, her hands cradling white orbs of Ki and she flung it in an instinctive parry. She ducked down, ignoring the pained howl of her attacker, desperate to reach the safety of Cooler's Spaceship, because these creatures were too quick, she couldn't hold out against them alone, she couldn't-

"Ah!" Her eyes didn't even register the third Macaan in the semi-light until it was on top of her, pouncing on her from behind a low, ragged wall, bearing her to the ground. The hammering impact against Bitter's head unwillingly shut the world into a blank space of nothing.

Darkness.


	11. Who Might Hear You

**Frostbite  
>Chapter 10: Who Might Hear You<strong>**  
>Destination: Planet Knot-12.34am<strong>

Bitter began to hear voices. Mutters of voices. She began to think what has happened to her. She felt blood prickling at her face, sweat rolling down her back and chest. It took her a second to realise that she wasn't standing or lying. No, she was held up in mid-air. Then she felt the tight, burning sensation of hard ropes wrapping around her body. She slowly opened her eyes to see a face. The face was one of the Macaans, just as she feared, but he had a fresh scar over his lip. He stared at her as she slowly focused her sight and he snorted.

"Hey Parakkan. The wench is coming to," He huffed, stepping away from view and Bitter glanced up, trying to regain conscious as fast as possible.

"Yeah, that's one of them. That a member from that gang who killed our kind." A voice hissed.

Bitter's eyes widened to see that the five Macaans she recalled were sitting before her. Between them, a small fire place was glowing dimly in the dark sunlight. She was right. She was suspended in mid-air from a broken Wooding tree and she struggled in the ties of the ropes, but it did no good.

"Well, well, if it isn't the badass killer…" Spoke the figure in the middle. The other Macaans giggled at each other at the comment like school boys. The figure in the middle was obviously the boss of the gang. He had blood on his fingers and muzzle and he kept his head down. "My name's Parakkan." He grinned dirtily as he looked up to her. "All we need to know it why the hell did you invade our planet!"

Bitter snarled back at them, but the Macaans laughed at her even harder.

"Aww, Boss, she's getting angry." One of them laughed loudly. Bitter's eyes glanced around them all nervously, thinking of what to do.

"She?" Parakkan burst out, then he laughed. "Ty, my dear man, how can someone who killed like that be a girl?"

"I feel that she's a woman, sir," The one named Ty spoke. He had lost one eye during a previous battle, but he glared hotly at her. "Good fighter, I must say. We saw her in the distance before fighting with three other men."

"Right. But first of all, I want you men to find me those three others. We shall make them pay!" Parakkan turned to Bitter. He eyed her up and down, and he looked at her black boots. No signs of a lady…but wait… He saw the tip of Bitter's icy-blue tail. "Hmm…" He bent down and picked up the tail. "What is…" Bitter growled angrily, snatching her tail away from him. He glared coldly at her, before standing up and clearing his throat. "What 'cha hiding, freak-boy?" He hissed, pointing at her black clock. Bitter said nothing and when she saw the flames of temper in his eyes, she knew she was going to regret her silences. "Get them rags off!" He stabbed a finger onto Bitter and she began to panic. It didn't matter how hard she tried to stop them, they lashes their claws at her cloak, pulling it off her body and before they knew it, it revealed Bitter's true form. Bitter glared hotly at them, her face flushing red as they stared at her in horror.

"Is that what I think it is, Hochi?" Ty barked at another Macaan, who stared at Bitter in shock.

"It…It's a female Icejin…" Hochi chocked to another Macaan. Parakkan observed her closely before walking towards her. He snatched at her cerulean ponytail and yanked her head towards him.

"It's a goddamn female Icejin! But she has tiny legs! Look! She got no horns!"

"Fuck off!" Bitter screamed, lunging towards him, trying to bite at his hand but narrowly missed. He tilted his head at the Icejin woman.

"Whoa, Boss, she's working for the Cold family!" Ty stuttered, eyeing Bitter up and down.

"Very true, Ty…" Though spindly, Parakkan was surprisingly heavy and strong. Bitter felt the wind knocked out of her lungs as Parakkan slammed his hard fist into her gut. Bitter choked blood out. "I want to make you suffer for all of those people you have killed. You killed all of our women, I guess you'll do. I've always wanted to rape a dead body anyway…" Parakkan smirked darkly. Bitter's blood-stained eyes cleared to see the creature stand before her, silhouettes against the dark sun, one claw raised for the kill…

"Get off her!" A deep-bass voice roared, leaping over Bitter's head, and before she knew it Parakkan was being attacked. She watched as a foot, bigger than her head, flashed down in a cruel dig that smashed into Parakkan's head and sent him tumbling away.

"Attack!" Ty yelled in rage. Bitter stared as the creature landed in front of her, his back towards her. She thought that it was Doore because of the voice, but the creature was lacking long black locks. It wasn't Doore. It was a stranger. She only managed to see a blink of the stranger before it vanished again. And suddenly the others were there with the flashing shadow. The battle was frantic. The Macaans were terrifically fast, but the stranger was parrying the snapping jaws and whip-fast attacks of his enemies. Bitter stared in awe as the stranger's bulking fist took one of the Macaans at the side of its head, smashing it aside; but the one named Ty leapt inside the arc of the shadow's swing and slashed at his broad chest. The stranger cried out as he stepped back from the creature, before smashing his muscular knee into the pit of Ty's stomach, and blood lashed in the air.

"Watch out!" Bitter cried out from her place. The stranger spun around as Parakkan lunged towards the stranger. The stranger laughed, intercepting him in mid-leap and sending him sprawling heavily to the ground. Behind him, Bitter managed to loosen one of her arms from the ropes and shot a blast of Ki at Hochi who rushed towards the Stranger, missing him narrowly. Hochi spun around at the source of his attack and roared, charging towards Bitter and she screamed in alarm, but the Stranger landed between Bitter and Hochi. His wrists had large blades, and they flashed between them, guarding and blocking, swiping and stabbing, his blood-red eyes narrow in his shadowed face. Faster than an eye-blink, the rope that hung between herself and the tree got sliced by the Stranger and Bitter collapsed onto the floor. She lay there, panting as she thought she was dreaming. Then she sat up and stared before her, realising that the fight was over.

Her blood-wet face staring, Bitter tried to take stock of what had happened. Before her, with the corpses of the Macaan gang, the towering figure stood their. "Who are you?" Bitter cried as she struggled in the rope.

"I would not shout that loud on Planet Knot," came a voice, and Bitter turned to find the owner of the voice staring back at her, facing towards Bitter. "You will never know who might hear you."


	12. Frostbite

**Frostbite  
>Chapter 11: Frostbite<strong>**  
>Destination: Planet Knot-1:25am<strong>

Instinctively, Bitter's hand open as if to defend herself. She stiffened in horror when a towering figure detached himself from the shadows of the piles of dead bodies.

"Who are you?" Bitter cried out.

The stranger said nothing. Instead, he walked slowly towards her. Bitter clenched her fists, getting ready to be offensive, but she watched as she saw the features of the stranger become alive and relaxed.

The towering figure was, of course, powerful-looking, and in all of her life has Bitter never seen such a strong, well-built creature. It had a perfect complexion of dark purple skin that clenched around his hard, muscular features and his chest was incredibly broad. Over his chest and shoulders, he had white carapace that formed some sort of breast-plate and the shoulder-pads were hoops that curled over his hard shoulders and attached to his back. His wrists also had the same white carapace, but there was a dark-blue sector on each arm, like crystal that gleamed in the moonlight, and long blades on each wrist-carapace. Bitter could not see his facial features clearly, as there was also a carapace that encased his entire head. Only his eyes were exposed, and they were nothing but blood-red gleams in the darkness of his helmet that seemed to have pierced through her soul. His mouth was covered by some sort of vizier, like a mouth-grille, only made of bone, and four sharp spikes extended from his cranium. The same cobalt crystal was in the middle of his head. She saw a long, thick tail trailing behind him, and she felt her heart flutter lightly to see the white tip of his tail, and realised how much it has killed the frightful appearance. Nonetheless, he was dangerous looking, and Bitter soon fell back into fright to realise how close he was to her.

It was certainly someone she didn't knew, but somehow she felt that she knew this alien all of her life. She had an uneasy sensation about that. "Answer me!" Bitter snarled, not taking any chances to lose her guard. The figure stopped just before her and crouched down beside her, tilting his head slightly as he examined her. Bitter kept still, her eyes not leaving the stranger's eyes. The stranger's eyes locked with her, her light-coloured eyes were luminous in the dark. As he leaned closer to her, he had a faint scent she couldn't place, some sort of herb, maybe, the sort of things girls bought at weird shops that had beaded curtains. It was certainly pleasant, but it did nothing to cover up the heavy cloud of smoke from the dim fire and fresh blood.

"I am not going to hurt you," He admitted slowly, his voice incredibly deep-bass and it wisped around her like a wounded beast. She didn't recognise the voice too, but it was obviously a male. His voice brought out a bitter lump in her throat, and she felt she was losing the train of her thoughts as she looked into his blood-red eyes, and she suddenly jerked herself back to attention.

Then, he lowered his head down and she felt him grab hold of the thick ropes that tangled around her feet and legs and began to untie them. Bitter froze, watching him carefully. After he unravelled the ropes, Bitter stretched her legs freely and turned to the mysterious stranger.

"Thank you…for saving my life," Bitter said, her voice almost inaudible.

He said nothing, but he kept his gaze on her, as if trying to figure out what she was. She realised that she was doing the same. The silence in the deserted planet seemed to press against her, and she jumped onto her feet and stood up. When she stood next to the figure, her head barely came up to his hips, and even whilst he was crouching down, he was massive compared to her. He was much taller than Doore himself. She rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble. If there is anything I can do for you, to a degree, please tell me." She said carefully after a moment's pause. "I want to thank you."  
>His eyes sparked darkly and Bitter was unsure what it meant.<p>

"It is okay," He said in his monstrous tone yet soft-spoken. Bitter sighed a breath of relief. Finally, he responded. It was strange to see such a frightening figure have somewhat a gentle edge to his voice.

Bitter's hand brushed lightly against the stranger's hand. He felt like ice. She had a sudden quell of recognising his species and a smile twisted her dark-blue lips. He seemed to have felt the same reaction too, as she saw him tensed up.

"You're an Icejin too?" Bitter piped up. He glanced down at her, and then he nodded once.

"How did you know?"

"Well, when I touched your hand, I felt this connection. All species of different kinds do it. Because we're Icejins, I recognised your species." Bitter said, a smile bloomed on her face. "Didn't you felt something strange when our hands touched?"

"Yes."

"That's it, then." Bitter brushed her hair back, and realised how closely he was watching her. It was as if he has never seen a female Icejin before. Maybe, she thought deeply, maybe he hasn't. She noticed that she wasn't wearing her Squad-Armour, so all of her curves and feminine features were revealed. She couldn't tell where he was gazing at, but she assumed the obvious.

"Hmm, I thought I was the only Icejin left. Well, of course expect for Lord Cooler and his family…where ever they are…" The figure looked up to her eyes again.

"So, you work for Cooler?" He asked. Bitter nodded happily.

"Do you know him?"

"I know him alright," The figure replied. He paused and then: "Wait. Only Icejin left? If you work with Cooler, where is your family?"

"I have none," Bitter said slowly.

"Hmm?"

She felt a painful constriction over her breastbone and her hips ached. Until her parents died she has never realised how intensely private grief was. In fact, she had never thought about grief at all before. Now it was practically all she did think about. Yet anytime anybody tried to be sympathetic, they always sounded stupid and out of touch, as if they had stepped off a pastel greeting card.

"My parents are dead," Bitter added without realising. "They died when I was a kid about seven years ago after the invasion of our home planet."

"I am sorry," he said gruffly. "What happened to you after that?"

"I lived in the wilds," Bitter replied gently, bending down and picking up a few blueberries from the Yuuki bushes. "I became some sort of wild child, let's just say, and then one day, I got accepted to Lord Cooler's army."

"Right," He said at a length. "Doesn't Cooler know that you are an Icejin?"

"No, he has no idea."

"Why is that?" His voice had an edge that made Bitter pause.

"Well, as much as respectful I am to him, I can't help but not admit to him that I am an Icejin AND a female." Bitter bit her lip, looking at the bushes' thorns. "I respect him. He is a great leader, and he is amazing to us all. I am grateful that he accepted me in his team and saved me from a fruitless life. He's some sort of hero to me, let's just say. It's just…" She sighed heavily. "…I'm just simply too shy to tell him in person. Sure, I've worked with him for years, but I can't gather enough courage to tell him who I really am. I'm fed up of pretending to be some sort of male Mutant alien. Only my close friends know who I really am. But no matter how hard I try, the words won't come out." Bitter turned to him, slipping a blueberry through her plump lips, slowly eating it, and then she swallowed it. "Wait…if you're an Icejin, how come you didn't know any about home's destruction?" Bitter asked.

"I worked away from home,"

"With who?" Bitter asked, hoping that there were more Icejins left.

"Nobody."

Bitter was stunned.

"No one? You're alone?"

The figure nodded, walking towards the bushes and picked a few berries himself, but he just squashed them between his lean fingers, watching the blue liquid slid down his fingers. He then turned to Bitter, seeing the disappointment in her wide eyes.

"What happened to our home-planet?" He said gently, rubbing the blueberry juice off his fingers.

Bitter opened her mouth, and she saw the same flashbacks rushing through her mind, and she couldn't make herself say the words.

"I'd rather not talk about it," she said in a small voice, feeling tears burning behind her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of a stranger. The figure nodded.

"I understand,"

He watched as she gathered her black cloak, putting it all. Once she was happy with her appearance, she turned to him.

"What's your name?" Bitter asked at last. "My name's Bitter,"

The figure paused, as if deciding whether to tell her or not. Bitter waited in silence.

"Frostbite."

"Frostbite?" Bitter repeated. "That's a nice name."

"Yours too," Frostbite replied. He seemed pleased.

"Um…Frostbite, you look very much too…Prince Cooler…" Bitter commented slowly, seeing that Frostbite had similar features and she slowly thought it could really be Cooler himself. She watched his eyes frown at her.

"No. I am not Cooler. Just because I look similar to him, does not mean I am Cooler himself, Bitter. Not all Icejin look unique." Bitter froze to hear the tone of his voice. Now, he sounded offended and Bitter' eyes dropped. "Wherever you came from, I'll walk you there."

Bitter giggled weakly, turning away from the bush and began to walk.

"I can take care of myself," She smiled softly, and then screamed. Frostbite spun around to see Bitter fly in mid-air, toppling upside-down and the rope from the Wooding Tree dangled as her foot got caught in another trap. He watched as she hung upside-down from the tree in yet another trap she failed to avoid. She heard him utter a dark, deep chuckle from behind his mouth-grille. Embarrassed, she folded her arm across her chest and looked away. "I was meant to do that."

"Really?" He murmured, walking towards her. She glared hotly at the upside-down face of Frostbite and she whipped her tail across his head, smacking him playfully. He shook his head at the playful gesture, and helped her down. Although she was ashamed of her foolish action, she was happy, and Frostbite felt his chest go warm at the smile.

"Okay, okay, you win that round." Bitter giggled. "Sure, you can walk along with me."  
>And with that, Bitter made friends with Frostbite. She judged that he was a lonely figure, some sort of outcast. As they walked, Bitter realised how friendless he seemed, but she was grateful to be friends with him. She was hoping that he could join her team. They would need someone like him. Once they found Cooler's spaceship, Bitter turned to Frostbite. For some reason, he was hiding behind a large tree, as if stopping himself from going any further. Bitter didn't ask why. "Would you like to come inside for a minute?" She asked.<p>

"You cannot afford to ask strange men in like that," Frostbite said sternly, and he blinked when Bitter giggled.

"You're not a strange guy. I know you."

"Not that well," grumbled Frostbite. Bitter's shoulders dropped. She was obviously disappointed. Lonely probably.

"It feels like, somehow, I've met you years ago. I don't know what it is, but it feels as if I've known you before," Seeing Frostbite tilting his head, Bitter shook her head, her dark-blue locks fluttered in the soft breeze. "Never mind, I'm just being stupid."

"It is not stupid," he muttered. "I understand," He reached out and patted her on the back. "You better head back inside,"

"But what about you, Frostbite?" Bitter whispered automatically. "I don't want to leave you. I want you to stay with me."

"I shall be back, I promise." He was whispering too. "I shall see you tomorrow night,"

"Why tomorrow night?"

"Because night is my favourite time,"

Bitter smiled softly.

"You and me have a lot of things in common," She beamed, but then her smile dropped. "But, we're getting off this planet and leaving in the morning. How can you see me again?"

Frostbite heard the desperation in her sweet voice. She really likes him, he realised. He chuckled and Bitter frowned gently.

"You will be surprised," He twiddled with her dark blue hair in his lean hand. "Now come on, Bitter," He added so softly, Bitter swore she felt her bones melt. He bent down to her height, his face close to hers. "I want to make sure you get back safely," Bitter realised with horror that he was sounding just like a father or big brother, but she couldn't help but adore having such a gentleman to keep an eye on her. "Now go,"

Obeying him, she nodded.

"Okay. Goodnight, and thank you," She whispered shyly, feeling the heat in her cheeks burn and she hurried along. Frostbite watched the thick, silky lock of her blue hair slip gently past his relaxed fingers like sand and he watched her hurry towards the spaceship and folded his arms, hiding behind the tree.

When Bitter entered the code, the door slowly fell open before her and she turned around. Her happiness dropped to see that Frostbite has vanished mysteriously. She blinked, a chill breeze raised goose bumps on her bare skin, but having a slight sense that he was still watching her, she reluctantly headed back into the spaceship, pulling her hood back over her head, concealing her features.

Then, she was alone as she slowly made her way down the long, curving hallways, occasionally meeting some workers and giving them a brief wave or a small 'goodnight' greeting.

She cringed at the thought of being alone. She often couldn't help but think what would have happened if Cooler really did found out about her. He could have thrown her off, abandoning her just like everything else. Cooler was always quiet, and never really spoke to anyone personally like a friend. It was always short commands, as if he was in a play and he had to be line-perfect in his part, or somebody would take him out back and shoot him. It felt awkward, Bitter admits that, and she always wanted to sit down and talk to him like a friend drinking Space-Cocoa or something. But Cooler was a busy man, and wasting time on something pitiful thing like Bitter was not on his list. She couldn't remember the last time Cooler ever smiled or even laughed.

Bitter heard footsteps behind as she passed a few doors down the metallic corridor to her room and spun around. "Frostbite!" She exclaimed involuntarily. Then she was overcome by a feeling that she was such a fool as she met eyes with the henchman Appule, recently renamed as 'Bennet' by Bitter, Salza, Doore and Neiz. Her eyes widened to see him staring at her as if she was mental.

Embarrassed, she hurried away to her room.

Frostbite didn't even say goodbye that night, and she felt awkward to see how closed up he was with her. But she couldn't really blame him. She was a stranger to him. He was threatening-looking, and after the way he killed those Macaans told her not to piss him off, but his voice was so soft, despite how monstrously deep it was. There was some sort of big heart in that guy. For once, Bitter couldn't read a male.

Now, the mention of her past made her eye muscles tighten, but no more, and she was angry to feel that everyone was stolen from her and put space-dust in their places. She wished she would dig up their wasted bodies with her bare hands and try to breathe her own life into it. Nobody here had any idea what she was feeling. It was too sick to talk about.

If only Cooler knew the truth about their home-planet, or perhaps he already does.


End file.
